Iyengar Tamil () is a dialect of the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

language spoken mostly in

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...

and

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Kar ...

, as well as other neighbouring regions of

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the States and union territories of India, Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and T ...

. It is spoken by the

Iyengar Iyengar (also spelt Ayyangar or Aiyengar, pronounced ) refers to the name of an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, whose members follow Sri Vaishnavism and the Visishtadvaita philosophy propounded by Ramanuja. Found ...

community, a sect of Tamil Brahmins whose members adhere to

Sri Vaishnavism Sri Vaishnavism, or the Sri Vaishnava Sampradaya, is a denomination within the Vaishnavism tradition of Hinduism. The name refers to goddess Lakshmi (also known as Sri), as well as a prefix that means "sacred, revered", and the god Vishnu, who ...

. Iyengars are present in considerable numbers in the states of

, and

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to t ...

, though their spoken dialect varies from state to state.

Development

During the ancient period, Brahmin Tamil was spoken only by those Brahmins who were associated with the

Smartha The ''Smarta'' tradition ( sa, स्मार्त), also called Smartism, is a movement in Hinduism that developed and expanded with the Puranas genre of literature. It reflects a synthesis of four philosophical strands, namely Mimamsa, A ...

tradition, including the

Iyer Iyers (also spelt as Ayyar, Aiyar, Ayer, or Aiyer) are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins. Most Iyers are followers of the ''Advaita'' philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara and adhere to the Smarta tradition. This is ...

s. The Iyengars developed a unique dialect of their own over the centuries, called the Sri Vaishnava

Manipravalam Manipravalam (Malayalam: മണിപ്രവാളം, Tamil: மணிப்பிரவாளம்) is a macaronic language found in some manuscripts of South India. It is a hybrid language, typically written in the Grantha script, which combi ...

. Owing to the development of a homogenised Brahmin identity during the medieval period, the Vaishnavite Brahmins of

Tamilakam Tamiḻakam ( Tamil: தமிழகம்; Malayalam: തമിഴകം), refers to the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people, covering the southernmost region of the Indian subcontinent. Tamilakam covered today's Tamil Na ...

largely assimilated Brahmin Tamil with their own dialect, retaining several words of the Vaishnava Manipravalam in their lexicon. The Hebbar and Mandyam Iyengars who reside outside the Tamil country, however, continue to use Iyengar Tamil as their mother tongue.

Characteristics

A unique characteristic of Iyengar Tamil is its retention of a lexicon associated with sacredness, with its roots usually from Sanskrit. For example, Iyengar Tamil makes distinctions between potable water (''tīrtham'') and non-potable water (''jalam''), with the former bearing a sacred connotation. The Tamil vernacular, in comparison, employs the terms ''tanīr'' or ''tannī'' to refer to potable water. Similarly, Iyengars employ the term ''bhakshanam'' to refer to religious offerings of food, which is otherwise absent in standard Tamil. In terms of grammar, enquiries in Iyengar Tamil often involve substitutions in the suffixes present in the vernacular, namely with ''élā'' and ''ōnō.'' For instance, an Iyengar would be likely to ask "sāptélā?" or "sāptéōnō?" rather than the Tamil colloquial "sāpténglā?", or the formal "sāptīrgàlā?" to enquire, "Have you eaten?" to someone. Iyengar Tamil also possesses the vowel substitution of "a" with "ō" at the end of words when it comes to directives. For instance, an Iyengar would be likely to say "pōngō" rather than the colloquial "pōngà" to direct someone to go. For a more comprehensive list of the variations between standard Tamil and Iyengar Tamil, refer to Brahmin Tamil.

References

{{Tamil language Tamil dialects Dravidian languages